Thursday, October 24, 2013

New Jersey & NYC Trip

We recently had the opportunity to travel to New Jersey to work with some of our incredible AdvoCare team. We actually flew out ON Big Jon’s 30th birthday- October 17th. It was only for a long weekend, but I’m not ready to be away from Baby Jase just yet…and since he is such an easy going lil fella and a great traveler, we just bring him with us. My mom is the BOMB & is always willing to go with us to help out with the baby, & it is so perfect because he absolutely loves his Grammy to death. She is PHENOMENAL with him and is super respectful of everything we already have in place- his schedule, routine, what he eats, etc. We seriously could NOT make it without her, and she enjoys being able to spend time with us and see places she’s never seen. We brought both of my parents to Texas & Amelia Island, and I love that we can finally afford to spoil them for a change. Part of the reason me and Jon work so hard is because we hope to be able to help both of our parents as they get older. That is very important to us. They have always been so good to us and we know we are truly blessed- and definitely want to return the favor (although we can never repay them) as much as possible.

(First time chewing on a banana while we were waiting for our flight. He loved it! Can’t wait to start solids soon.)

Dad was too busy with work to come on this trip, so it was just me, Jonathan, Mom, & J$. We had a BLAST!! (But missed you, Dad!)

Jase did AWESOME on the flight!! Everyone rolls their eyes when we get on with him (I don’t blame them- seeing an infant on a plane is not cool), but they always comment after the fight what a sweet baby he is. I make sure to feed him during takeoff and landing to help with his ear pressure, and that can be a challenge because he hates the nursing cover! He wants to be all up in the action and hates to miss out, so he tries to pull it back (not the best time for peek-a-boo) and ends up showing off all his mama’s “goods.” Whatever though- you do what ya gotta do! I do my best to be discrete. We also paid $100 extra for an upgrade to first class and it was SO worth it!! It was cheaper than buying an extra seat, so we just keep him in our laps and it gives us plenty of room to let him play, change his diaper, etc. Plus, Big Jon takes FULLLLLL advantage of all the free food and drinks! (The man acts like he’s never eaten before and never will again the second we get anywhere with “free food and drinks.” I’m over being embarrassed and now I just stock up as much as I can for him. It’s pretty entertaining actually.) Y’all know how we are. PRETTTTTTY stinkin’ cheap frugal. (Heck, neither one of us has bought ANY new clothes in over a year!) But this is one splurge that we both agree is 100% worth every penny while he’s little and still nursing.

We rented a car and thankfully Nikki met up with us to help us navigate the Jersey Turnpike. Driving in Jersey is NUTS! It’s like Atlanta drivers, on crack, except you can’t make left hand turns (but only in some places). And it’s illegal to pump your own gas. Did you know that?? Craziness.

We stayed with Nikki one night and spent the rest of the time at the Hilton in Eddison. Jase has been in his own room at home since about 8 weeks, so I didn’t realize how many noises he makes while he’s sleeping. Lil dude is wild! Every little sound woke us both up, so he ended up sleeping on my chest for a few nights. Gotta admit, I enjoyed the sweet snuggle time (even if I barely slept). Straight back to the crib like a champ when we got home though.

(First time in winter clothes. Corduroys & a sweater. ADORABLE!!)

Thursday- Saturday morning we spent a good bit of time working with our team, training, etc., so we decided to leave all of Saturday afternoon and evening open to visit NYC. Just have to say…..our team is the BOMB and we are so thankful to work with such incredible people!!! Love all our sweet new friends!

I can’t help but feel SO PROUD of my hubby. I know I say it all the time, but I am so blessed to call him mine. I love watching him lead our family and so many others. He is such a STRONG leader and leads with such a “relaxed intensity.” Plus, he’s stinkin HILARIOUS and you can’t help but love him and crack up at him. And let’s just say his ‘relaxed intensity’ is a nice balance to my over the top enthusiasm. I can’t help it- I’m passionate.

Thankful for women like Pam- a phenomenal nutrition and fitness coach – sharing her wisdom with us. Love this lady!

Lots of laughs at team dinner!!

Jon, Mike, Nikki, Nat, Angela, Jenn, Kelly, & Pam are seriously some of my new BFFs right now. Had a BLAST with these guys!

Like I said, we left Saturday afternoon open for NY. We’ve never been to the city and it’s only a 40 minute train ride from Nikki’s, so we decided to go that route rather than drive. All I have to say is thank GOODNESS for her and Mike! Whew! We never could have navigated all that madness without them. Peanut had a blast on his first train ride and made friends with everyone who sat around us. It really is amazing how much JOY babies bring to everyone. Seriously, if you don’t smile when he’s smiling at you, you should probably check yoself. Love my sweet angel baby!!

He may or may not have his parents wrapped around his finger. Can you tell from our giant smiles that we love our lil guy just a little??

Scopin’ it out from his window seat.

I will say that I wasn’t as scared as I thought I would be. I expected it to be really rough & for people to be rude, but everyone was very friendly. Maybe it’s cuz we had the baby??

Love this pic of my mom!

We carried him in the Baby Bjorn & he still managed to get a short nap in even with all that crazy chaos! I think Central Park was my fave. So calm and quiet, even in the midst of that big city! It was pretty crowded and nuts, and I definitely wouldn’t want to live there, but it was super cool to visit.

The whole city was gorgeous and we can’t wait to go back at Christmastime when he gets a little older. We hit pretty much all the highlights….Madison Square Garden, Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, St. Patrick’s, the ice skating rink thing, Macy’s, Central Park, and I’m sure a few others I’m leaving out. We also ate some famous NY pizza and had a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery.

My new FAVORITE picture of all time. Seriously, my whole heart in a picture.

On the way home we met some sweet little gals in the airport. The little ladies were 11 and 14 months, and big boy Jase was almost as big as both of them! At 5 1/2 months!!

One of the moms also does BabyWise and I enjoyed talking to her about it. She has the same issue as me. Jase sleeps AWESOME in his crib. I mean awesome, and I am SO thankful for that. He takes full 2 hour naps, and other than our routine (read, sing, prayers), I don’t do anything to get him to sleep. I lay him down and he is out. Definitely a blessing….BUT, he doesn’t sleep quite so great anywhere else. Thankfully my mom has the magic touch! I feel SO GUILTY when he misses naps. I really can’t stand it and beat myself up, but I try to remind myself it doesn’t happen very often. Other than church, I make sure he gets his naps during the week. He takes two full hour naps, one that is about an hour and a half, and then sleeps 12 hours at night. Blessed with a great sleeper! (Although it did take some effort on our part too.)

We had such a GREAT time and I’m so thankful for the sweet friends, sweet family, and sweet memories!!

1 comment:

SO glad you guys had a great time! We had a great time with you guys as well! We can not wait for y'all to come back and do it again! You guys are more than welcome ANYTIME! LOVE and miss you guys and my little man!